


The Truth Left Unturned

by letussin



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Accidental Stimulation, Body Worship, Human Sex, Incest, M/M, Sans is human au, Soul Sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-31
Updated: 2016-02-14
Packaged: 2018-05-17 13:41:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5871775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/letussin/pseuds/letussin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sans is human, Papyrus is a skeleton, and they stumble slowly towards having a relationship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> For the undertail-kink meme: http://undertail.dreamwidth.org/256.html?thread=53504#cmt53504

Sans was warm to his touch.

Papyrus slid white, boney fingers across dark fingers, pretending to not feel the weight of Sans gaze on him. Sans fingers twitched slightly, and Papyrus automatically pulled back, before delicate finger bones could be caught and pulled off. Old memories of when crueler monsters had taken off his gloves surfaced, and for a second, he was scared.  
Sans stilled immediately, and Papyrus tried to force a smile on his face. He shouldn’t be so nervous- this was his brother after all!

…His brother that was human, his not-brother that had been lying to him for years. Did he even really know Sans at all? He thought he had- Sans had been the lazy slob that had too many nightmares, that enjoyed hugs and bad puns, ate his spaghetti, live in Grillby’s and somehow paid for the house. Sans couldn’t clean out his mailbox if his life depended on it, and never bothered feeding his pet rock. He had several sentry stations, had spent too much time at the door in the ruins. Sans loved drinking any kind of condiment he could get his hands on and loved stargazing. He did it every night since coming to the surface.

But Sans had never told him anything, had he? Papyrus knew that, but he was a little surprised at the complicated feelings that arose as he stared at a flesh hand. It was just like Frisks. Identical even, except for the different, darker tone.

  
His smile slipped a few seconds later as he stared at the hand extended to him. Sans seemed to of dropped into silence, and Papyrus couldn’t think of anything to say. He struggled for a few moments, hands half drawn back, before he reached out again to Sans hands. Sans remained perfectly still, eyes glinting at him like little pinpricks of light.

  
Papyrus ran his distal phalanges across skin, marveling at the soft moldability of human skin. It was very soft and dry. Not at all furry like most of the creatures that had skin in the underground. It felt… nice, honestly. He didn’t like it when fur or feathers slipped through the space between his fingers, and the human skin was quite soft to Undyne and Alphys’s rough, scratchy scales. He ran his thumb across the back of Sans hand, before turning it over and pressing his hand against Sans in comparison.

  
Sans huffed quietly at the motion, the knotted, worried crinkles around his eyes beginning to ease. His hand remained pliant in Papyrus’s, as Papyrus nyeh-ed triumphantly at having a bigger hand. A low chuckle managed to fill the air, shattering the oppressive silence. “like what you feel?”

  
Papyrus, if he had a tongue, would’ve stuck it out at him. Instead he humphed loudly, phalanges resting lightly against a wrist, feeling a pounding, unsteady beat through his bones. “You are quite soft! It feels very nice.”

  
The pounding ratcheted up, even as Sans slumped further in his seat, burying his face in his jacket. His mask was still on. Papyrus wondered what kind of face he had, with flesh on it. What kind of face his… brother? Was Sans his brother? Did he even want to be? “Sans?” He had no throat or lungs, so his voice shouldn’t of squeaked quite so hard.

  
Sans straightened a little, the pounding calming a little. “Yeah?” His voice was just as horse as Papyrus’, a fact that he took a little comfort in.

  
“Can I- May I take off your mask?” He wanted to see. He could feel his soul aching to see what exactly Sans had hidden from him for so long. Would it even mean anything, like this? Papyrus wasn’t certain, but, his soul ached to see what exactly Sans looked like. Even if it shouldn’t matter.

  
The pounding took a sharp dive upwards. “Uh, yeah, sure. I did say whatever you wanted, didn’t I?” Sans twitched as Papyrus let go of his hand, and started reaching for his mask. Papyrus watched avidly, as white pulled away to dark skin. He had always had bad eyesight, so he still wasn’t able to quite tell the break from mask to other parts of Sans costume. But he could see the stark contrast between skin and shirt.

  
Papyrus scooted his chair a little closer, fingers reaching out slowly to caress a soft, chubby cheek. It was a lot different from Frisk- he always had his gloves on around Frisk. Bones didn’t have a lot of feeling to them, but he could faintly feel the warmth from cheeks, the soft, gentle texture of skin. It was quite fascinating.

  
And then there was the hair thing- unlike Frisks straight hair, Sans hair was apparently curly and wild. He wasn’t about to sink his fingers in there (the thought of how it could get tangled between the delicate bones gave him the shivers) but he was willing to do the same thing he did with Frisk. He leaned in close to nuzzle at the wild, curly hair, feeling it scrape along his mandibular and maxilla. A wave of heat slapped against his face.

  
Confused, Papyrus pulled back for a brief second. Sans dark skin had changed color. “Oh, Sans, I didn’t know you could change color.” Wait, Papyrus was pretty certain that was a bad sign. “Wait! Oh no! Are you sick? I don’t know how to take care of sick humans!”

  
Sans head snapped upwards, “What, no, Paps! I’m not sick! Just- a little flustered. I’m fine.”

  
Papyrus crossed his arms, eyes narrowing. “Are you now?” He wondered if this was yet another lie. Sans nodded quickly.  
“Hey, Frisk changes colors a couple of times, without getting sick, right? And you’ve taken care of me before- nothing’s actually different.” Well, that wasn’t true on Papyrus’s part. No matter how he tried to make himself smile these past few days since finding out Sans secret, he hadn’t been able to shake off the sense of betrayal. The tiny kernel of anger.

  
“Isn’t it though?” Papyrus mumbled. He wasn’t sure why it was Sans betrayal that hit him the hardest- he knew how much his… how much Sans loved his secrets. But he had thought that he knew his br- He thought he had known Sans. But apparently he didn’t know anything, and it hurt more then when Flowey would insult him, or Frisk giving him an exasperated look. He knew how to deal with that, to keep his smile up.

  
He didn’t know how to deal with this.

  
Papyrus had crashed at Undyne’s place for a few nights, not citing the reason why until Undyne had tossed him into the same room as Sans and told him he was going home that night so better hash it out now sucker. That was why they were here. Papyrus had asked to feel the human skin and confirm with his own eyes that Sans was actually human, Sans agreed, and everything was still very, very awkward.

  
Sans sank into the seat, hands shoving into pockets. And for a second, Papyrus could really see the person he considered his brother. One eye closing lazily, body relaxed and open, as slippered feet tapped against the floor. It was familiar, and easy, and without really thinking about it, he leaned onto Sans. Sans never asked for hugs, so Papyrus took it upon himself to give him hugs, and-

  
Wait.

  
Papyrus began to pull back, not certain if Sans actually liked them or not. Sans shifted so Papyrus could lean against him a little easier, and stared up at him without his perpetual grin. Papyrus scratched the back of his head. His instincts were telling him that Sans needed comfort, but he wasn’t sure what to say- what to do!

  
“Nyeh.” He muttered darkly, before leaning in again, resting his head against a curly mop of hair. He could feel the strands tickling against his face.

  
“So, uh, what brought this about anyways?” Sans questioned, and Papyrus could feel the heat coming off of Sans in waves.

  
“Well, I have been crashing at Undynes place, and she said that I was going to be heading back home today because the house burned down. Our spaghetti making has become much more intense since Frisk has come into the picture. She said she will be crashing at Alphys.” It was kinda an answer!

  
“Oh.” Sans eyes closed for a brief moment. “If… if you, uh, still don’t feel comfortable with me, then I can-“

  
“Nonsense!” Papyrus made a split moment decision. “I won’t back down from this challenge!”

  
“Challenge?” Sans nudged him slightly in the chest with an elbow, not dislodging him from where he was leaning. “What’s the challenge?”

  
“Obviously to learn more about you. I mean- I thought I knew a lot about you but now I know more things! Like you aren’t actually my brother!” Sans flinched, the tremor rocking against Papyrus’s bones. Papyrus plowed on determinedly, “And that you have hair! I would touch it but I’m afraid it would get caught in my fingers. That would hardly be ideal.”

  
“Yeah, your fingers are pretty delicate, ain’t they?” Sans chuckled, a warm sound that flooded Papyrus with warmth. “Sorry about startling you earlier.”

  
“It’s okay Sans!” Papyrus said, a little surprised at just how okay it really was. He paused for a moment, before scooting back a few steps so they were facing each other again. Sans tracked him, eyes alight. When Papyrus extended his hands again, he pulled his hands out of his pockets. “Your turn Sans!”

  
“Huh?”

  
“Well, it is only fair that if I get to touch you, then you can touch me if you want!”

  
Sans seemed paralyzed. “I-uh-that’s-“

  
But he was leaning forward, fingers hovering over Papyrus’s. Papyrus didn’t pull away. “You sure? Your fingers are pretty delicate-“

  
“I wouldn’t of offered if I wasn’t certain!”

  
“Alright then, if you don’t mind me-“ Sans fingers folded around his bones, and Papyrus could feel the warmth and pounding beat in his hands. “I’ll admit, I always wanted to try holding your hand without gloves.”

  
“Wowie, really?” Papyrus laughed a little at the thought- at least he wasn’t the only one fascinated by hands.

  
Sans slid his thumb across his metacarpals, the skin dragging on sensitive bone. Papyrus did his best not to squirm. He didn’t quite succeed, from the way Sans paused, letting him finish moving before starting up again. He was a little surprised how light and hesitant Sans touch was, compared to his normally steady hand he did everything with.

  
It wasn’t like Papyrus didn’t know how a number of monsters who found Sans charming- he had to admit when Sans wasn’t just lying about and being lazy he was quite attractive. And Sans did have a sharp wit- he just had too many puns. And, like this, he could really understand why people sent Sans love letters and not him. There was just an air of complete seriousness and single-minded devotion to achieving his goal. What his goal was, Papyrus didn’t know, but- he was quite determined!

  
“So Bro- sans!” Sans stopped at Papyrus’s voice, eyes leveling with Papyrus’s as Papyrus skipped over calling him brother. Papyrus rocked on the chair, feeling something tingling through his bones every second Sans had his fingers on him. “I- Have you told anyone else?”

Sans glanced up at him, eyes narrowing slightly, “I thought you’d of spread the word by now, so no.”

“I haven’t told anyone.” Papyrus stated firmly, “I was surprised by the knowledge, but I wouldn’t just tell anyone without your permission Sans.”

Sans grinned at him, and Papyrus blinked, a little taken back by the force of the smile. Human smiles were very pretty, weren’t they? “that so Papyrus? Thanks. I wasn’t really planning on telling anyone _tibia_ honest.”

Papyrus groaned at the pun, resisting the urge to gently whack him like he usually did. Sans eyes wrinkled oddly around the corners, as his smile actually seemed to reach his eyes. Papyrus reached out with his free hand to lay curious fingers on the wrinkles. “I never realized how moldable human flesh was,” Papyrus remarked, “It’s a lot different then bones.”

Sans snorted as he reached up to press a hand against his cheek. Papyrus twitched at the touch- usually Sans had two or three layers of cloth to add just a little bit of distance between them. Like this it was… Papyrus wasn’t certain what the word was, he just knew he liked it.

“Yeah, we kinda do that.” Sans muttered, before he pulled back, scratching at one cheek awkwardly, “So, uh, you wanna come home with me? I know a shortcut.”

“Okay Sans!” Papyrus climbed to his feet, gather up gloves and discarded mask.

  
Sans shortcuts always left him a little dizzy, but when Papyrus’s vision had cleared, Sans was opening the door to their house on the outskirts of a bustling port city. There was a brief stab of worry about Sans being out and about without his mask, before it faded with the reminder that they were surrounded by humans- a human wearing Sans-like clothing could hardly matter much! Or he hoped at least. Still, it had been a long time since he had been home, and Sans was in the doorway, watching him carefully. Was he worried that Papyrus would change his mind? He couldn’t back out now! Papyrus blinked away the last bit of darkness- and entered into chaos.

  
There were socks, blankets, a few plates of stale spaghetti, grillby take-out, human take-out, mold and-

  
Papyrus could feel a little eep of terror escape him at the sight. “What did you do to the living room Br-SANS!? It’s a mess! A complete and utter mess!!” Papyrus stormed into the living room, eyes shooting to where the closet holding the laundry basket ought to be. It was wide open, and it looked like some living mass of dirty laundry was spilling out of it.

  
Papyrus swore he had only been gone for a few days. How in the world could Sans create this black hole of a mess?!

  
Sans looked a little guilty when Papyrus shot him a look of disbelieving anger. “Sans, go attempt to unbury the couch. I will take care of the rest!”

  
“mmkay.” Sans didn’t seem to be attempting to slack off for now, which Papyrus gleefully took full advantage of.

  
\------

  
Sans slumped against the mattress he’d left lazily on the floor, and breathed in deep.

  
His brother was back.

  
Papyrus was back in the house, and they were _talking_. He rested his eyes against the palms of his hands, and silently thanked whatever watched over humans who had their souls irreversibly turned into part-monster for at least letting him attempt to make things up to Papyrus.

  
But there was never a good time to tell Papyrus, that he was originally human, and when they got up to the surface, his days had just been too full. Papyrus finding out had been the furthest thing from his mind. To be honest, Sans didn’t plan on telling anyone anything. Papyrus finding out had been a mistake, and when Papyrus had refused to come home, stating that he’d be at Undyne’s instead, Sans had about near had a panic attack.

  
The past week had been lonely- waking up at odd hours of the night was infinitely less fun when he didn’t have a cool brother nearby to talk too before heading back off to bed. It hadn’t hit him how much he had emotionally depended on Papyrus to help him get back to sleep, until Papyrus wasn’t there anymore.

  
Sans glanced at the door- through the walls he could hear Papyrus attempting to clean up the mess he had made of the living room without anyone to keep in check his self-destructive tendencies. He should probably go out and help, but he needed this selfish minute to just relax. Besides, Papyrus would redo whatever he did.

  
Humming floated through the door, and Sans touched his cheeks. He could still feel Papyrus’s boney fingers on the soft skin, a caress that had his heart thundering a mile a minute. It had been such a nice sensation- and the bright flush was back. Sans buried his face into the stinky mess of blankets and sheets and tried to think of something other then the delicate finger-bones that he had gotten to touch.

  
Papyrus wasn’t very sensitive as far as Sans could tell- when making that costume, he’d accidentally pricked Papyrus a number of times along the shoulder bones. But Papyrus hadn’t even been able to tell- he’d been the one to apologize to Papyrus’s clueless acknowledgement.

  
But those hands- at even the slightest pressure, Papyrus was squirming. Still trusting him, but squirming from the sensations, and unbidden his mind began to bring up the dirty dreams of a blue heart dripping with need. Of Papyrus squirming on the bed like he had been in the chair, rocking back and forth, gloves (fingers now) desperately clutching bedsheets as Sans caressed the heart with his fingers, head thrown back and the _whimpers_.

  
Sans hands strayed to his pants, before he forced himself to pull back. Now wasn’t the time. He studiously ignored the fact that there was never a good time to have wet dreams about ones brother, and tried to think of icy-cold mountains instead. He thought of dust, and just like that, it was gone.

  
Right. Go clear off the couch. He could do that.

  
The couch cleaning didn’t take long, and Sans perched in the middle of it to watch as Papyrus made cleaning magic happen to whisk away a weeks worth of despondency. Papyrus was humming a simple tune- something about spooky scary skeletons? Sans wasn’t certain- he had been gone from the surface for most of his life, and he was bone deep in catching up with the astrology news.

  
He may have a book of stars carefully stashed away in Snowdin for the next reset.

  
The tv flickered on a astronomy show, and Sans cleared his throat carefully, “Hey, uh, Papyrus?”

  
Papyrus’s head turned at his voice, and Sans attempted a smile, “Got a show you wanna watch with me?”

  
“Sans, I have only been cleaning for-“ Papyrus squinted at a clock, before continuing, “Three hours! At least let me clean for three more before interrupting me!”

  
“C’mon Papyrus, union deals say you work for two and get a break.” Sans cajoled, “We can change the channel if you want- Mettaton is probably showing off his new play. The sequel to the one with the ice-cream.”

  
“Well…” Papyrus hesitated, shooting another look around the still cluttered floor. The laundry basket was overflowing, and the washer could only do so much. “I suppose I could take a break until the washer is done.”

  
Sans grinned as he patted the couch- Papyrus sat down, but didn’t lean over like he usually did. Sans told his aching heart to suck it up- Paps had his entire world turned upside down. He had noticed Papyrus avoiding the use of the word brother. He could deal with a little bit of distance right now. He dug the remote from out of the couch cushions, and passed it over.

  
In a couple of flicks they were staring at an old rerun of one of Mettaton’s shows. Sans frowned, “Huh? Isn’t today Wednesday?”

  
“No Sans, today is Thursday.” Papyrus said, quietly. Sans nodded, brain catching up now that Papyrus had provided him the time.

  
Papyrus couldn’t read the tiny print on the tv programs, so Sans would read it instead, and he did have a pretty good memory. Good enough to remember things that didn’t happen. But- “Thursday huh? Musta lost track of time being skele-lonely.” Not his best, but hey. “So, uh, we missed his new show, but there’s a Bob Ross painting thing going on.”

  
Papyrus bounced in his seat eagerly, “Which channel? Which channel?”

  
Sans dragged the channel out of his memory, grin easy on his face as he watched Papyrus flicker through the channels, before settling on the painting. They let Bob Ross’s soothing tones pour over their ears. Papyrus was always into art- Sans had been pretty darn impressed by the bridge-canyon painting. Papyrus had really taken the ‘one perilous bridge per region’ to heart. Even if the perilous bridge was actually a painting. Still, that was some amazing perspective going on.

  
Papyrus nodded along to the man’s voice, clutching a pillow to his chest. Sans leaned back, watching Papyrus. Every so often, he could feel his hands twitching up towards his face. It felt so weird, not to have on the mask, like his face was exposed. His hands too, though they were shoved into his pockets.

  
Sans shifted further down into the couch, staring at Papyrus’s gloved hands, and wondered idly if he should go get his mask. Would it make Papyrus feel more or less comfortable?

  
On screen more grey was being placed on top of grey. Papyrus was nodding as a knife was brought out. Sans went back to staring at Papyrus- the painting knife was nothing like a kitchen knife but he still… had his issues.

  
Papyrus wavered in front of his eyes- Sans scrubbed his hands against his eyes, attempting to stay awake. But the fractured sleep he had gotten was dragging his eyes down. At the very least, he should go and dig out his mask incase someone came over… but nobody ever visited and…

  
His body slowly titled forward, eyes falling shut as a soothing voice lulled him to sleep. His body slid sideways, and he could feel Papyrus reaching out like they usually did to tuck him into the body side. A slight smile appeared on his face- Papyrus wasn’t the worlds comfiest pillow, but he was one of the most reassuring. A gloved hand fell on his shoulder, and hesitated. Sans leaned in anyways, mumbling, “Wake me up if someone comes bro.”

  
A hand froze on his head, before Papyrus huffed softly, “Very well then. Enjoy your sleep you lazy bones.” The glove swiped over his mass of curly hair, a gentle tug that helped tip him over the edge into sleep.

  
He did so, nose buried in the scent of bones.


	2. Doctor Doctor

Sans propped his elbows on the table, and smiled brightly at Papyrus busy cooking something other then spaghetti in the kitchen. Papyrus explained it as Alphys had put her foot down and told him and Undyne that no more spaghetti would be made for the week- they were currently elbow deep in some kind of casserole. Toriel was helping out, which definitely made Sans a lot more eager to eat. There was a high chance this would be edible. And, best of all, it would be monster food so he wouldn’t have to worry about it spoiling. Or sitting heavy in his stomach. It’d just convert to pure energy.

There was another loud clatter from the inside, and Sans smothered a laugh. He cupped his hands instead- ever since Papyrus had returned, his soul had been feeling kinda funny. Now, while he was alone at the table, he should take a quick peek.

The aqua-colored soul spun between his fingers, casting a faint light over the surroundings. Sans stared down at it, before turning it over- there was a shard of a monsters soul grafted onto his own. It granted him the use of magic, a warm dark-blue that dyed his soul with its color. For some reason, the shard was wavering.

Sans brushed the pad of his thumb across the soul piece, eyes soft and worried. If the monster soul shard vanished, then Sans would probably die with it, and Sans wasn’t sure what would happen next. He brushed his thumb across the piece, and massaged it gently.

\------

Papyrus was in the middle of chopping potatoes with EXTREME JUSTICE when a hand ran down his spine. He froze at the sensation, knife falling from his hand onto the counter. He glanced around, expecting to see Sans, or even Flowey- but there was nobody there.

He shook himself, and told himself sternly not to hallucinate any hands- he couldn’t usually feel much of anything when it came to his bones. Obviously, since there was nobody there. So there shouldn’t be any hands-

Papyrus’s legs gave out as what felt like human hands (sans hands) encircled around his neck, brushing against the bones there. His bones felt like they were electrified, or turning into rubber, moldable and flexible and-

A whine escaped from his throat as he felt heat build in his chest. His soul had appeared, the dark blue color bathing his chest in light. Papyrus felt a small gasp escaping his chest as a hundred hands stroked every vertebrae along his spine. If they were going to do that, then couldn’t they move on to other bones?

His soul flared, and Papyrus concentrated on it instead, trying to get it too vanish. His gloved hand brushed across the surface, sending a sensation of cloth against bones, sensual in a way he had never felt before. He trembled at the sensation, overwhelmed but at the same time-

It felt so _good_. Papyrus pulled his gloves away, tipped with some kind of sticky blue substance. He stared at it for a moment longer, trying to place what it was- he’d never seen anything like this before. He struggled to his feet, to wash off his gloves.

That was when an entirely unfair attack was launched- what felt like human skin caressed his neck beneath the scarf along a thin line that had appeared one day. Papyrus jolted, arms knocking the glass pan off the counter. It shattered with a crash loud enough to probably be heard next door.

And just like that, the sensation vanished, leaving behind only the heat in his bones, and the flushed look on his face. He stared dumbly down at the shattered glass, as Sans appeared at the doorway, voice frantic. “Papyrus? Papyrus, are you okay? What happened?”

He stopped at the sight of Papyrus leaning against the counter, flushed and panting. He took a step forward, not bothering with the broken glass. “Papyrus? Are you okay? C’mon, let’s get you out of the kitchen.”

Blue magic turned off the oven, and Sans hands wrapped around his elbow to tug him towards the living room. Papyrus obediently followed, barely noticing how the glass cleared out a path for them. Instead he concentrated on the gloved hands tugging him towards the couch. He stumbled a little, and suddenly they were at the couch, and Sans was shoving him into the seat. It actually was a little surprising and… _something_ having Sans hands on his arms, pushing him down. The facemask eyes glinted softly, as Sans questioned, “You feeling okay there Papyrus?”

“I am doing just fine! In fact, I could get up and run a marathon-“ His soul was certainly pounding away like he’d run a marathon, making him want to hide from Sans. Hide away, and think of soft, human hands on his soul.

Sans, who was shoving him back onto the couch. “Whoa, hold up there Papyrus. You’ve never broken anything in the kitchen before even with all that banging around- are you certain you’re okay? Lemme call a doc over first.”

It took a lot for Sans to actually do anything- Papyrus, when Sans was in motion, had always stilled to watch him. The flurries of activity were always brief, but Papyrus loved seeing his brot… he liked seeing Sans actually active. Papyrus had done his best to encourage any brief flurries of activity before.

Right now, however, he just wanted to hide and try to figure out what just happened himself. It wasn’t like the sensations were terrible- they were actually quite nice. But everything was confusing and whirling around his head, and Sans really wasn’t helping by actually being focused and in control.

Papyrus had never thought there would be a day where he was less then pleased about Sans being active, but right now really wasn’t the time. Sans was dialing a number on his phone. Papyrus began to lunge off of the couch, only to run into a blaster. The giant head nudged him back onto the couch, as Sans took a few steps back out of reach.

The masks eyes glinted dangerously. “Heya doc. Yeah, it’s Sans. My bro-“

“I’m fine Sans!” Papyrus yelled, “There’s no need for doctors!” There was a little gibbering fear at the word doctor. He could very, very, very faintly remember a time when Sans wasn’t around. There had been a doctor then, and- he doesn’t remember any more except the fact he didn’t like it.

Sans leaned against the windowsill, watching him futilely push at Sans’ blaster. “Yeah, he’s pretty energetic now, but just a few minutes ago he was looking pretty flushed and dizzy. He broke a pan in the kitchen. If you wouldn’t mind-“

Papyrus didn’t give up on much, but his head was still spinning from earlier. He leaned against the blaster instead, yelling, “If I were sick my HP would drop Sans!”

There was a click, like fingers snapping, before Sans said into the phone, “Yeah, his hp hasn’t dropped at all.”

Another moment of silence, during which Papyrus stared pleadingly at Sans. Sans remained unmoved, “If you can fit us in sometime today, that’d be great.” Papyrus began to edge off the couch, only to be nudged back in by the blaster head doing its supposed duty of guarding.

“Saaaaaaaaans! I’m fine!”

“Thanks doc.” Sans ended the phone call mercilessly, and padded over to where Papyrus was still ‘trapped’ on the couch. A gloved hand pressed against his forehead. “You don’t seem hot. How many fingers am I holding up?”

“I am not engaging in such childish displays Sans! I demand to be allowed up.”

“…Okay.” The blaster moved away from the couch, and Papyrus pushed himself up onto standing feet. He was going to round the couch to go back to the kitchen, when the blaster floated into the doorway, blocking it.

“Sans! How am I supposed to clean up the broken pan if your blaster is in the way?”

“Leave it until tomorrow Papyrus. You should take it easy and rest your bones. Don’t want you coffin up a lung.”

“We- I don’t have lungs Sans!” Papyrus threw his hands up in exasperation, “There is no way for me to have a cold or disease! I’ve never been sick a day in my life!”

“That may be Papyrus, but I’ve never seen you like that in the kitchen either. Just let the doc check you out real quick and then they’ll be on their merry way and I’ll read you fluffy-bunny, okay?”

Papyrus didn’t want a doctor touching him after the strange sensations. He didn’t want to be stuck in the living room with Sans, especially when his mind kept insisting that the hands on his spine and making such a… lovely? Interesting? Wonderful? New! New sensation was Sans hands.

Sans circled around the couch, reaching out to touch his spine. Papyrus jumped at the touch, flashing back to the hands on his bones. Sans immediately withdrew, eyes on him. “C’mon Papyrus, why don’t we watch something for awhile? There’s no need to be so jumpy.”

“I’m not jumpy!” Papyrus instantly declared, “I, the great Papyrus, aren’t scared of anything!” He paused, “Well, most things at least.” It was good to keep at least a little humility, was it not?

Sans was slowly advancing on him, and Papyrus took a step back for each step forward. The couch bumped up against his knees, and the tv flickered on. “C’mon Paps, we can binge-watch a bunch of painting episodes.”

Papyrus sat down with a huff, curling up around a pillow and determinedly not looking at Sans. Not even when Sans settled down next to him. The tv went largely ignored- Sans was busy staring out the window, and Papyrus was using the pillow as a shield to check his ribs. There weren’t any traces of the sticky substance along the inside of his ribs, and his soul felt perfectly fine without a summon of it. Had he just hallucinated it all?

But with every second that passed by, Papyrus couldn’t help but feel more and more wound up. Sans was restless as well, shifting every few seconds to glance out the window to where the doctor should be arriving.

Sans was at the doorway the second the doctor could be seen from the windows. The blaster that had been at the kitchen vanished as he swung the door open, greeting the doc with a smile.

Papyrus suffered through the checkup- It was mostly just a series of questions about what he’d been doing for the past week while the doctor poked and prodded his magic. At last the doctor sat back, looking absolutely puzzled.

“It doesn’t seem like there’s anything wrong with him. But there aren’t too many skeleton monsters. You might have a better idea Sans, seeming how you’re a skeleton yourself.”

“Uh, yeah.” Sans muttered. Papyrus gnawed on his gloves to keep himself from blurting out that Sans wasn’t actually a skeleton.

“The only thing I can say for now is Papyrus to take it easy for a few days, and not strain yourself. The surface is still an unusual thing, we’re not sure how it can affect magic. He might’ve gone through a natural magic disrupter or something.”

Sans rocked back on his heels, “That happen a lot doc?”

“It’s been happening more often- underground all of our magic was boosted, but up here on the surface there’s all sorts of extra variables going on. A number of monsters have reported feeling sick at some point or another, usually the more active ones.” The fish-like doctor packed up his equipment, as Papyrus ran over the words in his head.

“I- is that what happened to tsundere plane? I heard from her sempai that she was out of school for awhile.” Papyrus said after a few moments.

“That’d be breaking patient-doctor confidentiality. Though, there is one thing I haven’t checked. Can I see your soul Papyrus? Just a quick checkup, there shouldn’t be anything wrong with it. I won’t touch it or anything.”

Huh? Papyrus curled a little further up into a ball. He didn’t like doctors, he didn’t like being poked and prodded, and he especially didn’t like requests to see his soul. It was a very delicate thing! “If you want, you can show your brother instead, and he can tell me if there’s any differences from a normal soul. I know it can be a bit hard to show something like that.”

Show Sans? Two weeks ago he would’ve shown Sans without any hesitancy.

Now, he didn’t meet either of their eyes, stammering out, “W-W-Well-“ He didn’t want to disappoint them- either of them! He wholeheartedly believed the doctor when he said that it would just be a quick checkup. But even so-

Sans spoke up from a corner of the room, “Grillby just texted me something, I’m gonna be heading out momentarily. We can talk about it when I get back Papyrus.”

Sans vanished, as the doctor huffed loudly.

Papyrus untucked a little from his ball. “Well, there went Sans. I guess I should go check up on my next patient. Would you like a lollipop Papyrus?”

“Yes please! Um, doctor-“ His voice caught in his throat. If he were to ask the doctor to stay, and show him his soul, then it would hurt Sans when Sans eventually found out. If he didn’t say anything, Sans would be disappointed that he didn’t take advantage of the checkup.

His soul was perfectly normal though! The last doctor would’ve told him if it wasn’t. So he stuck the lollipop in his mouth, and enjoyed the feeling of it becoming magic. “Thanks for coming over doctor! I’m sorry that Sans left half-way!”

“It’s fine, it’s fine.” The doctor laughed, “and don’t worry about the bill- I’ll send it to Sans mailbox. Do make sure he actually checks that thing, would you?”

Like underground, above ground Sans mailbox was overflowing. Papyrus was a little jealous, until remembering just how long it took for Sans to cultivate that overflowing filthiness- he’d almost be impressed if he weren’t completely disgusted.

“Okay! Do you want me to go with you to your next place? I’ll help carry your bag!”

“This sitting still and resting might be your greatest challenge yet, hmm Papyrus? Don’t worry, I have a vehicle to get me around. No more walking for these old bones.” The doctor laughed, as he passed over a card, “Your brother probably already knows where I work now, but it won’t hurt to have this as well.”

“Thanks doc!”

Papyrus waved goodbye to the doctor at the doorway, before breathing a quiet little sigh of relief as the doctor left. He hadn’t thought keeping Sans secret would be so hard! But, well, the doctor was gone, and there was the matter of the broken glass in the kitchen. Obviously he should focus on that first!

Without Sans, there was nothing to block him from regaining entry to the kitchen. He quickly swept the kitchen, keeping an ear out for Sans the entire way. He wouldn’t want Sans to return in the middle of-

His broom touched on a fuzzy slipper. Sans grinning facemask stared impassively at him. Papyrus said cheerfully, “Hello Sans! I was just getting the glass.”

“C’mon Papyrus, I’m sure the doctor said for you to take it easy.” Sans at least didn’t try to stop him. But like this, he was blocking the rest of the glass.

“Yes! But! It would be quite bad if Frisk were to come over and cut themselves on the glass. Or that annoying dog.” Papyrus frowned, remembering how delicate Frisk was- and the thought of Sans crossed his mind, and his eyes comically widened. “What about yourself? Aren’t you just as cut-up able? Toriel was rather stringent about how to human proof the house!”

Papyrus had spent hours nagging Sans and trying to human proof the house. Toriel had refused to let Frisk over three times before Papyrus had finally gotten it right! Not that it stopped Sans from letting Frisk visit anyways.

“Papyrus, I’m fine. Toriel just worries a bit too much is all.” He winked slightly, “I promise you, the house is perfectly human proof when we stepped into it- it was built by humans after all.”

Well, the logic was impeccable. “Oh, okay! Let me just finish sweeping up the glass, and then we can watch a show together or something!”

“You’re not feeling tired or anything?” Sans didn’t shuffle out of the way until Papyrus nodded. He only shuffled out of the way reluctantly, when Papyrus started sweeping around him.

Papyrus dumped the glass in the trash, tied off the bag, and leaned back, satisfied with what had happened. “Very well then! Good that’s done!”

“Yeah, uh, Papyrus- about what the doc said-“

“Oh, that. Yes, I will do my best to take it easy for the next few days! Undyne has already canceled lessons since she burnt her house down.” Papyrus crossed his arms, frowning, “Do you think helping with Muffets bake sales would count?”

A horde of spiders weren’t exactly the best sales monsters for humans. Papyrus loved talking to humans, and well, everything had just snowballed from there! He really enjoyed it- Muffet even paid him! He adored meeting new people, the spiders seemed to like him just fine, and best of all, he got to hear all sorts of juicy gossip about all sorts of things-

Like the time the whole city of New York ditched Jerry! The human swore up and down that the streets were empty, shops were dead, and not a single car could be heard. Undyne didn’t really have a television to keep up with news so Papyrus hadn’t been able to confirm it, but it certainly sounded fun!

“Ah, well- I don’t know Papyrus. It gets pretty hot out.”

“Aww, but Sans! What if I stay in the shade?”

Sans didn’t seem like he was budging on the issue. Papyrus decided to pull out the big guns, “What if I were to… _nap_ afterwards?”

He hated sleeping, hated resting, hated being idle in general. Even in his sleep he liked to be doing _something_. Sans shoulders curled back a bit, like he couldn’t just believe what he had just heard. “Please Sans, I can’t just do nothing for these next two weeks!”

“Yeah, you don’t have a lazy bone in your body unlike me.” Sans chuckled dryly as he shrugged, “I suppose that’s a good thing.”

“Then I can keep on going?” Papyrus asked- insisted really- quite hopefully. He was still going to go if Sans said no, but it was rather ridiculous to be sneaking out of the house at his age.

“Yeah, go ahead bro. Go ahead.”

If Sans was discomforted by the sudden hug, he didn’t show it. He didn’t even seem to mind it, judging by the way he leaned into it, breathing evening out as if he were to go into nap mode. Then, he stopped leaning. Papyrus, mind already falling back to years of conditioning, didn’t think twice about scooping up Sans.

Sans had always been heavy, but Papyrus had trained hard to make sure his bones were strong enough to withstand it. With how often Sans fell asleep in places one shouldn’t be asleep, Papyrus had gotten plenty of brother-carrying practice.

“Wait, Papyrus? Don’t-“

“Shhh, it’s okay.” Papyrus murmured, “Just to the couch.”

Sans was silent for a moment, before pointing out with a strained note in his voice, “This isn’t resting.”

“Yes it is! You’re quite light!” Papyrus insisted. That was a lie, but he could feel a little curl of satisfaction in his chest as he hoisted Sans up to his chest, and began walking. Sans flesh molded against his battle-body, and Papyrus was struck by a very good thought if he did say so himself.

“Sans, can I touch your stomach?”

“…where did this come from?” Sans demanded, but didn’t actually refuse. Papyrus laughed triumphantly.

“I have always asked this Sans! But you always refused before, saying that magic is much too volatile to be poked and prodded! But, it is not magic! Is it?”

Sans leaned his chin against his collarbone, the faint breath ghosting across bone. “No, it’s not magic.” Papyrus settled onto the couch, keeping Sans in his arms. “But if it makes you happy, then sure, go for it.”

“Really?! Okay then!”

Papyrus leaned back as Sans shuffled into a little better of a position, where they were facing each other. Papyrus stripped himself of his gloves, mind drifting back to the soft flesh, and how nice it had felt. Sans buried his face in a pillow.

“Sans?”

“’m fine. Just go ‘head.” Sans said into the pillow.

“You’ll tell me to stop if you don’t like it, right?” Papyrus questioned- before sighing. “It feels so weird to be asking you this now! Honestly, I thought I had what hurt you sorted out before-“

“That _hasn’t changed_ Papyrus.” Sans insisted, peeking out from beneath the cushion. “I’d have told you if you were hurting me.”

Papyrus wondered if Sans would’ve, and quickly tried to banish such thoughts. Sans not telling him he was human, and not telling him what would hurt him were two entirely different categories! Sans wouldn’t want to be hurt- nobody wanted to be hurt, right? Though sometimes he’d come home to Sans…

Another question to ask a human at Muffet’s stall. Papyrus gently laid hands on Sans stomach, feeling the skin wobble under his bones. Sans squeezed the pillow tight. Carefully, Papyrus ran his fingers across the smooth surface of Sans stomach, pressing experimentally on the fat. Sans didn’t make any noises, other than a faint hum. It sounded a lot like a contented hum, so Papyrus continued exploring.

Fingertips curved around the small hole, and Papyrus bopped it in curiously, “What’s this Sans?”

It took a long moment for Sans to answer him, voice a few octaves lower than normal. “Bellybutton. Humans are made of flesh, and that’s what kept us fed when we were in our moms stomachs.”

Oh, Papyrus knew about pregnancy! A lot of men dropped by to pick up doughnuts for their wives when the wives asked them too! Something about soothing contracting pains or something? A woman had explained a little to him- it sounded horrifying, messy and painful.

“Oh, so that’s what it was? A bellybutton is a charge station?”

Sans snorted into the pillow, and Papyrus could feel the pun in the air before Sans could open his mouth. “Bro, you’re the light of my life and button of my eye.”

It was actually pretty good, but if he encouraged Sans now, he’d never hear the end of it! So Papyrus leaned down to nuzzle the rounded flesh of the stomach, and let the flesh run through his fingers like water. Better then water even- water got between his bones. Sans soft, moldable, flesh _didn’t_. It retained its shape, even as Papyrus could feel it envelop his bones.

Papyrus nuzzled against it, wondering if it would do the same thing as water if he blew into it.

Sans erupted into laughter, barely muffled by the pillow. “H-how is it, that even though you don’t even know what flesh is, you still manage to blow a raspberry?”

“Is that what it’s called?” Papyrus blew another one, watching as the tension melted from his brothers body. Sans laughed, a low, deep laugh that made the stomach beneath his fingers buzz softly and shake. It was such a wonderful feeling!

“Yes. Now cut that out.” Sans scolded, but it was quite clear that his heart wasn’t in it, from the way his fingers only barely flickered across his head.

Papyrus made a triumphant noise as he declared, “It seems like I have found yet another weakness of yours broth-Sans! I will remember this!”

Sans laughter began to die down as Papyrus climbed to his feet. They remained in what Papyrus figured was a good, companionable silence for a few moments to the slowly waning daylight outside. Papyrus leaned against Sans, ungloved hands resting lightly on his skin, and after a few long minutes, Sans tugged off one of his gloves, and held Papyrus’s hand.

Papyrus wasn’t certain why, but with every touch, he could feel the empty, yawning void that had appeared ever since he learned the truth close up a little more. Just a little bit of trust slowly being glued back into place, piecemeal and small, but still there.

It felt like Sans was finally actually trusting him. So Papyrus did what he could- he twined his ungloved fingers around Sans, and felt the bones and flesh come together in a union he rather liked.


	3. Slowly Begin Moving

Papyrus fell onto his racecar bed, and nyehed softly into the sheets. He’d just spent several hours getting in contact with his jogging group and telling them that he wouldn’t be there for jogging tomorrow. Miss Linda seemed rather sad to hear that, and promised to tell the kids who liked to race him around the pond on weekends that he wouldn’t be there.

Now was supposedly time for sleeping, but Papyrus wasn’t really feeling it. The hallway lights were off, the sun was down and- he just wasn’t feeling it. Not even the slightest lingering emotion from when he’d been attacked in the kitchen. Instead he was bored.

But he had promised Sans he would do his level best. So he buried his head in his pillow and tried to think of things that made him tired. Like the kitchen incident!

Ah, that was right!

Papyrus sat bolt upright in his bed, and pulled off his gloves. He carefully laid them to one side, not wanting them to get dirty from whatever goop his soul was about to create.

His soul was dark blue, and from the front, looked absolutely perfect. Papyrus’s eyes settled on the deep dip, like a piece was missing, on the back. He pressed gentle boney fingers against it, and felt bone brush against his arms.

It felt nice. He’d never really felt that kind of touch before, but something was missing. His bones just weren’t soft enough! Papyrus scowled in frustration, mind going back to the kitchen.

That touch had been so soft and tender. Not at all like the scrape of his bones against his soul, sending small thrills down his body parts- except his spine. One stroke felt like curl between his ribs, sensitive in an almost painful way, with a thrill that made his fingers tremble as he stroked again.

Bony fingers- his own fingers caressed the edge of his jawline, scraping against the small cavities where his second set of teeth used to be. He whined into the touch- it just didn’t feel right! It should be softer! More like-

He thought of Sans fingers intertwined with his, dragging along the sensitive bones. His soul dripped onto his fingers, coating the bone with some kind of sticky fluid. Papyrus moaned softly, the back of his head hitting the pillow. There was a quiet thud on the other side of the wall where Sans had gone to sleep. He needed to be quiet! He didn’t want to disturb Sans!

Papyrus rolled over, pressing his face into the pillow, thankful that he didn’t need to breathe. His body shook as his mind caught ahold of Sans. Sans with a boney, skeletal face, but soft human hands. Sans was grinning, face caught in his permanent grin, even as his fingers, gentle and certain, curled along the inside of his ribs.

Sans always knew what he was doing. His fingers would be soft and certain and so much more knowledgeable then the trembling fingers that stroked his soul. Papyrus let his eyes disappear, as he concentrated instead on the idea of Sans(he thought of human, but it made his soul shake in something other then pleasure) his skeletal brother, boney gloved fingers casually stroking along the edge of his soul. He’d probably chuckle softly as he ran bone along the soul, teasing him for the small noises he was making. That lazy bones would probably shrug half-way through and start falling aslee-!

Papyrus shook as his soul flared, thick goo coating his fingers, giving them a softer feeling.

_Sans, dark skinned and undeniably **human** , settling on his lap, heavy flesh sliding across bone. His weight forcing rattling bones to still, and soft, such soft hands on his soul as warm lips pressed against it. Warm brown eyes flickering towards him, layers of skin, and flesh drowning him its embrace, and he can feel himself tipping over the edge as lips formed words against his soul, “What do you want to do, brother?”_

His soul exploded in a flood of magic and liquid, staining the sheets and gloves he had set aside. Papyrus collapsed into the sheets, mind whirling dizzily.

What had just happened? He had been thinking of Sans as the skeleton, and then his human form had appeared and- and- He didn’t even know what Sans looked like as a human! Not entirely at least. Yes, it was pretty easy to fill in the gaps. Humans didn’t come in as nearly different body types as monsters did. But, still that was… unexpected.

Papyrus hastily, and quietly as possible, began to gather up his sheets. He wouldn’t be able to clean them until the sun rose, but he wasn’t going to sleep in them either. After that little soul explosion he was feeling a little sleepy, though not by much.

Papyrus stared at the ceiling all night long, mind turning over the word brother in his head.

\-------------

It had been three days of this lifestyle, and Sans was ready for it to end.

It wasn’t exactly Papyrus’s fault- the skeleton had a very active lifestyle that Sans couldn’t even begin to keep up with. Bake sales, jogging (running and parkouring more like, it turned out when he found the hundreds of youtube videos of Papyrus jumping over rooftops and streets because taking sidewalks was just too slow), being a mascot, cooking lessons with Undyne, driving around the city, more cooking and-

The list could go on for hours, and Sans sometimes felt exhausted just thinking about it. He hadn’t known how Papyrus could keep up such an active lifestyle.

Until now.

Now he knew.

Sans buried his face in the couch pillow as Papyrus burned a hole in the rug. Literally. He’d been making laps since yesterday after he got off of Muffet’s Bake Sale for the Spiders, trying to tire himself out for a nap. It was a nice, slow, easy walk, that Sans managed to convince him down too, but Papyrus had been going at it for hours.

Maybe he really needed to rethink everything he knew about skeletons. Papyrus was the only skeleton he really knew, but he had thought that by now Papyrus would be tired. Nope. Instead Papyrus was in the middle of a rant he would probably post online later about rude customers and- “Oh, would you look at the time! It’s almost time for me to go help out at Miss Muffet’s again!”

Sans nodded languidly. He wasn’t even going to try to stop his brother. Muffet had been given the heads up to keep an eye out, and despite their differences when he hadn’t paid that one time, she liked Papyrus enough to agree.

If they were forced to spend any more time with each other in this kind of situation, they might really start fighting. Even Papyrus’s cheerfulness could only last so long under basically house arrest.

Maybe, Sans thought, he should book some tickets to comedy shows. Or music shows. Papyrus liked music, and Sans could sneak in a junior jumble book to keep his hands busy. Because, as much as he loved Papyrus in ways that he shouldn’t, this forced resting business was not conductive to their relationship. TV shows and movies could only do so much, and Sans could only be outside walking for so long before he got exhausted. He was speedy, yes, but only in short bursts.

Right, comedy shows. Maybe even a museum? Papyrus liked human history stuff. Though Undyne was still in hot water after she started wailing about anime in the middle of a museum, saying that the history written down couldn’t possibly be true. Anime.

Sans smothered a laugh into a pillow at the memory.

Maybe Alphys had a good idea? Fingers lazily typed out a text for ideas on places to go visit that were nice and quiet. He dropped quickly into a light nap.

He got a link back to the top 20 hot date sites around the city, with a Alphys-and-Undyne Date Approval Seal.

Not exactly what he was aiming for. She must’ve thought he was taking out Tori or something. This was more of something that Papyrus would do, with his date book. But he opened the link anyways. It’s not like he had anything left to loose. It wasn't like anyone would actually believe he was taking his brother for a date (no matter how much he privately thought of it as just that).

There were nice restaurants mixed with popular tourist spots, and lots of places for two people in love to get away from a crowd. They even included how monster friendly the spots were, for visitors who wanted to gawk at monsters.

Sans wasn’t sure what to think when he got to the monster-section. Undyne’s boulder suplexing, Mettaton’s plays, Nice-Cream guy’s stand, Temmie’s hidden street that changed every day in the city, Papyrus’s jogging route, Muffet’s bake sales, Aaron flex-offs- They seemed to be as much of a part of the city as the human attractions were.

So he didn’t think about. He scrolled right past it, and onto the beach equipment rental, which was nixed for now. That still left plenty of museums, though whether or not they’d get kicked out for being too loud would be the question. Eh, it didn’t matter. Just whatever got them out of the house and doing something with their time.

Sans stopped scrolling, and went back up to the museums. There were a number of them- Still short one day however. But, well- Sans wasn’t going to stress it. Papyrus would be much more amendable to having a day off as long as he could fill the day with some kind of activity. Even if Sans had to read every plaque to him.

A knock came at the door, loud and clear. Sans swung himself off the couch, wondering who it could be.

It was a older lady, hair pulled back in a no-nonsense bun and dressed casually in running gear. She held several large, overflowing bags in her hands. “Hello, Mr. Sans.” Uh, wait, how did she know him? She seemed a little familiar, “I’m Linda from Papyrus’s jogging group.”

A wreath of information from Papyrus’s babbling clicked into place. “The one with the twins in the hospital, right? How’re they doing?”

“Just fine thank you.” She smiled slightly, and held out the bags. “The jogging group was quite saddened to hear Papyrus wouldn’t be able to join us due to health reasons, and wanted to give him this in hopes that he’ll get better soon.” Linda hesitated, caught on the question she obviously wanted to ask, but uncertain on how to do so delicately.

“Thanks, I’ll be sure to let Papyrus know.” He petulantly ignored her discomfort. He had a good idea what she was going to ask, and he didn’t want to give her an answer. Sans took the bag, and nearly dropped it again at the weight. What had they stashed in there?

“We didn’t pack any human food, but the children did put in a few nice-creams since we’ve seen him eat those.” Linda took a deep breath, and Sans wondered if there was any way to avoid the question that didn’t go with awkwardly poofing out.

At least his mask made it look like he was always grinning. “So, how is Papyrus doing?”

“He just went out to go be at Muffet’s bake-sale.” Sans chuckled softly as he stashed the bags under the table next to the entrance. Papyrus could rifle through it later. Nice cream didn’t melt. “You wouldn’t ever expect he’d run a femur if you looked at him now.”

She didn’t seem to of caught his pun. “I’m quite glad. I’d hate for it to be anything serious.”

“Yeah, so would I. He’s wearing me down to the bone being cooped-up in here.” Now there was a flicker of recognition in her eyes, but she still hadn’t seemed to of caught on. Sans wondered how much he needed to dial it up before she started catching on.

Linda clasped her hands together, and said quite seriously, “If you have need of any help, Mr. Sans, please do let me know. Our jogging group is quite tightly-knit, and we would be happy to assist you.”

The olive branch was extended. Sans sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, heart filled to the bursting. Papyrus was finally gaining the friends and support group he had always dreamed of. “Yeah, thanks. I’ll let you know if Papyrus-“

“I do mean either of you, Mr. Sans.” Linda said firmly, “I know how hard it is to take care of loved ones in the hospital. Food, chores, a shoulder to cry on- this is my cellphone number.”

Humans weren’t born with the innate love, compassion, and mercy monsters were, but that didn’t mean they were devoid of it. Sans took the business card, and wished there was a way to soften his masks smile for her. “Thanks. Sorry I wasn’t too phone-y, but hey, at least I didn’t _waist_ your time, right?”

A slight frown appeared. “I-I’m sorry, were you- were you even trying to be funny?’

Oh, ouch. Sure, Mettaton had him listed as a separate act from the comedy section back when he was there, but Toriel always laughed at his jokes. “Aww, c’mon, don’t you find a few of my puns humerus?”

She gave him a long, level look, before cracking the first real smile. “Your brother was right- your puns are actually quite good. I hadn't really noticed them.”

Sans flushed at the thought of Papyrus complimenting his jokes to strangers. “You sure we’re talking about my bro? He’s always saying my jokes are too hard to stomach.”

“Goodbye Sans, I have volunteer work to go to.” Linda left with a smile, which was a win in his books.

Sans glanced at the bags under the table, and crouched next to them. He probably should give them a cursory glance to make sure there was nothing that might accidentally hurt Papyrus. From the looks of it, it was loads of books, including several picture books of naked skeletons. He was going to just take those for now.

Other then that, it was all miscellaneous stuff that he wasn’t going to bother rifling through. Sans lazily left them underneath the table. Papyrus would have a grand time sorting through all of that.

So he sat back and waited for Papyrus to return home. He could go work on the machine, but there would probably just be another reset. He could go do half a dozen things.

But the sun was shining through the window at just the perfect angle to warm the couch, the birds racous racket was dimmed enough to be an almost pleasant background noise, and Sans was exhausted from what-if’s and maybes, and prolonged Papyrus Pacing.

He was going to take a nap.

He closed his eyes, and fell into comforting darkness.

 

Sans was semi-awoken by a heavy blanket being dropped over his form, and a hand resting on his shoulder for a moment. Sans happily burrowed into the soft blanket. Papyrus’s hand lingered on his shoulder, and Sans listened to the sound of Papyrus crouching.

A cold sweat broke out.

Why was Papyrus staring at him? He could feel the weight of Papyrus’s stare like ten-ton bricks, crushing him slowly. He remained still however. What Papyrus wanted to do, then Sans would play along with for now-

“Sans, you’re awake, aren’t you?”

Caught.

Sans chuckled softly as he lifted a hand and waved it in the air. “I am now. Whatchya need?”

“Why- mmm, never mind, it’s nothing.” Sans turned over as Papyrus pulled away, beginning to walk towards the kitchen.

This was… this was new.

Sans admired Papyrus for many things- him teaching Sans how to use magic despite being younger, his refusal to give up no matter the odds, the ability to twist negative things into positive things- and most especially, the way he solved problems. Where Sans did his level best to avoid them until they disappeared, Papyrus ran into them over and over and _over_ until they either changed themselves to no longer be problems, or they got so tired of him they left him alone. It worked a lot better then Sans method it felt like.

Right now, however, it felt like roles were switched. Papyrus was the one avoiding the problem, the one not to bring it up other then a few questions here and there. Papyrus was the one dancing around the subject, and Sans- Sans was finally ready to answer any question Papyrus might have truthfully.

Maybe for once, he should be the one to take the first step. “Uh, B-“ He changed gears, as the first letter started on his tongue, “Papyrus, your jogging group came by earlier and dropped off a bunch of packages.”

“Really? Wowie!”

Sans couldn’t do it.

He couldn’t bring himself to take that first step.

Sans watched as Papyrus squealed with joy over the presents and letters, before running upstairs to grab paper and pencil to write thank you letters to everyone. He leaned his elbows on his knees, grinning beneath his mask to watch as Papyrus set down a stack of paper at least a few feet tall to prepare for his letter writing, and opened the first bag.

He should go get envelopes and stamps.

Sans instead wrapped the blanket around his shoulders and settled down on the opposite side of Papyrus, shoving all thoughts of what could have been out. He leaned his head against the table, sleepily watching Papyrus meticulously sort through the presents. “It’s like Gryfot day all over again!”

“Yep.” Sans murmured, as he half-sprawled across the table. “It is, isn’t it?”

“Oh, lookie at this Sans, it’s a book of origami!”

Oh? He’d heard of it- they were one of the rarer books to get ahold of in the underground, especially the kind that wasn’t so water damaged as to be unreadable. What few there were, were the ultra-advanced origami books that nobody could make heads or tails of.

This one looked to be a beginners, complete with specially patterned paper to make things even easier. “Oh, can I?” Sans questioned, reaching out to the book.

Papyrus handed it over.

And that was how Sans found himself three hours later, cursing the fact that he wore gloves, struggling to fold a crane as neat as possible. Papyrus finished up the last of the personal letters, setting the letters aside, and clearing off everything but the origami. Sans sighed and leaned back as paper crinkled and bent under gloved hands.

“Sans, it’d be easier if you took off your gloves!” Papyrus scolded, pulling his own off for emphasis. Sans glanced at them, and glanced away, unreasonably grateful for the cloth over his face. “See, like this!”

Bones folded a neat crease- a little slanted, but that was pretty easy to fix. “Sorry Papyrus, looks like I ended working on it before you.”

“Nonsense! If you like it, you can keep it! I can’t make out these pictures anyways.”

True, the origami book must’ve come from China or something, because whatever little text there was, it was written in a foreign language. Sans took back everything he ever thought about it being a beginners book.

“If you’re sure.” It was pretty fascinating…

Papyrus beamed at him, and picked up his discarded gloves. Sans looked down at the table, and blurted out, “I don’t take off my gloves because I don’t feel comfortable. With skin I mean.”

When Asgore had withdrawn from him, declaring his soul no longer human, Sans had decided to throw being human away. When he had met Papyrus and gained the most adorable baby brother one could ever ask for, skin and flesh suddenly became burdens.

Sans wanted to be a monster. He wanted to be a skeleton.

He wanted to be Papyrus’s family, in any way he could.

“Besides, you were the one who gave me these gloves, remember?”

“Of course I do! Gloves are very important for skeletons!” Papyrus sniped back, but the look on his face… Sans knew how much Papyrus emoted, for a supposedly bone face, but Papyrus was very good at conveying his emotions and right now the emotion #1 on his face was stress.

He groped for some kind of joke to lighten the situation. “You know, I used to be able to clap with one hand.” Papyrus made a noise of confusion, and Sans continued, “But that was zhen, and this is tao.”

Papyrus shrieked in overblown outrage, and Sans started going on a roll, “What’s the matter Papyrus? Can’t hand-le my puns? Because I’ve gotta hand it to you, you’re hands down the best skele-bro a guy could ask for.”

“That’s so awful Sans!” Papyrus said, but Sans could see the smile at the edges of his mouth.

So Sans grinned brightly as he continued to mercilessly pile on the puns, until Papyrus was laughing loudly, unable to hold back the bone-rattling noise. The joke was on him however, when Papyrus leaned on him, the boney touch sending small thrills through his skin even through several layers of cloth.

He had it so bad, and it was disgusting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A human skeleton weight is about 14-20% of a person's weight. So if we think of Papyrus being about 6'2"/187cm, he weighs anywhere from 14-18kg/30-40lbs. That's about the weight of a finnish spitz or a kerry blue terrier. Papyrus is probably super light. The average human, by the time they reach about 6-7 years will probably weigh more then him. So light. You could pack him in a suitcase and take him home with you.

**Author's Note:**

> This was just supposed to be porn, but somehow devolved into this. I'll try and get it back on track.


End file.
